Lowell Deeds

Yesterday The New York Times ran an interesting article about identity theft in the Internet age. The state of Arizona has the highest number of cases of identity theft in the country, almost twice the national average. The Times article begins with a story detailing how one Arizona thief operated. In Scottsdale a 23-year-old drug user was arrest for identity theft. When police question him he revealed the source of his victims information was the Internet. According to the thief’s story he accessed his victim’s divorce record online. The divorce record provided him his victim’s name, address, bank account numbers and signature. This particular thief specialized in printing checks in other peoples name. Arizona police are having trouble keeping up with the criminal use of technology…but they are trying. In 2003 the Federal Trade Commission did a survey that showed about 1 in every 30 Americans had their Identity stolen in 2002. In 2005 the number of victims declined slightly, but the amount of money stolen increased dramatically. Legislatures accross the country are struggling to find a way to make public records “easily and safely” available over the Internet. The state of Florida is requiring all social security and bank/credit card numbers be stripped from online records by 2007. Whether other states follow this path remains to be seen.

Yesterday in the town of Natick, Massachusetts, a ceremony honored that town’s “Praying Indians,” indigenous people who converted to Christianity in the 1650s but who were exiled to Deer Island in Boston Harbor during King Philip’s War (1675). Yesterday’s ceremony honored, among others, members of the tribe who went on to fight on the colonial side during the American Revolution. There is a local connection to this story. On May 18, 1653, the Massachusetts General Court granted two petitions . . .

One from seuerall of the inhabitants of Concord and Wooburne, the other from Mr. Eliot on behalfe of the Indians, for land bordering vppon the Riuer Merimacke, neere to Paatookett, to make plantation . . .

These petitions established the town of Chelmsford and the village of Wamesit, one of several “praying villages” created by the legislature at the behest of John Eliot, a minister who spent the bulk of his adult life preaching to and converting many of the indigenous residents of Massachusetts to Christianity. “Wamesit” consisted of 1000 acres of land on the west bank of the Concord River where it flowed into the Merrimack (today’s downtown Lowell) and 1500 acres on the east bank of the Concord (today’s lower Belvidere). The indigenous residents of Wamesit were driven away by the animosity that arose during and after King Philip’s War and the land they occupy was taken over by residents of Chelmsford. It was not until 1726 that the Massachusetts General Court formally annexed Wamesit to Chelmsford after which it became known as “East Chelmsford.” But “East Chelmsford only existed for 100 years because in 1826 it became the town of Lowell.

A front-page story in the Real Estate section of yesterday’s Globe discussed the state of paperless real estate transactions in Massachusetts. While many obstacles remain, the general tone of the article was that this technology is coming soon. The article does briefly discuss the Middlesex North electronic recording program.

Yesterday’s Lowell Sun ran a front-page story that proclaimed “Flood clouds outlook for court center.” The proposed cite of the new Judicial Center is located on East Merrimack Street in the vicinity of the Davidson Street parking lot and the banks of the Concord River. Unfortunately, last week’s flood swamped the parking lot and left basements full of water on that side of East Merrimack Street. The Sun article quoted a spokesman of the state’s Division of Capital Asset Management (DCAM) as saying “We aren’t fully committed to that site at this point, and in light of the flood information, we have to take a careful look at that.”

Today’s Globe has a story that lists the most affordable towns in eastern Massachusetts. Four of the top ten are part of our ten-town Middlesex North District. They are Wilmington (#2), Tewksbury (#3), Billerica (#6) and Dracut (#8). Only one Middlesex North Town was in the ten least affordable towns - that was Carlisle at #8. The report is based on a computer program developed by the MIT Center for Real Estate. The ranking is based on percentage of all houses, condominiums and apartments within the town that would be affordable for a family of four. Other factors such as the quality of the school system, availability of jobs and the amount of open space were also taken into account. Congratulations to Wilmington, Tewksbury, Billerica and Dracut for making it onto the list.

No doubt, the Apple iPod is the thing…and everyone wants in…Nike, the famous sneaker maker, announced that it is teaming up with Apple Computer to create a shoe that talks to your iPod (no, I am not kidding). The “Nike+iPod Sports Kit” tells a runner “distance”, “time” and “calories burned”… all through his iPod…It is only a matter of time before more and more companies jump on the bandwagon and create interactive iPod devices. I let my imagination go (scary, I know)…the possibilities are endless…here are some of my ideas for future interactive iPod devices:

The FryPod…FryingPan+iPod… Are you kitchen challenged? Don’t worry!…The FryPod is a frying pan with a small communicating device attached to the bottom…the FryPod talks to your iPod indicating cooktop temperature and it lets you know when your food is ready…but, best of all it is dishwasher safe.

The PetPod…GPS+iPod…Keep track of your pet while he runs free! Attach PetPod to your dog or cat’s leg and this unique “global positioning” tracking device will tell you where the animal is at all times…through your iPod, of course…

The TriPod…forget it, someone else already thought of it.

The AbsPod… ExerciseMachine+iPod…This is the easy way to get “abs” of steel. All it takes is a five minute daily work out with the AbsPod. The AbsPod is a revolutionary exercise machine…simple hold your iPod behind your head and do 500 Marine style sit ups “daily” and you’ll transform your physique. Remember to consult your physician before starting any exercise regiment.

The DryPod…Dryer+iPod…De-ice your car windows, dry your hair…the uses are endless for DryPod…the first iPod that comes with a built in blower motor.

The EyePod (hey, it’s a homophone)…Eyeglass+iPod… Having trouble reading small print? Turn the volume up on your iPod and it automatically increases the magnification of your eyeglasses…problem solved.

Previously we’ve reported how Philadelphia and San Francisco are building municipal wireless internet networks to give the citizens of those two cities free or very inexpensive high speed wireless internet access. Now a company in California wants to do the same thing, but for the entire country. M2Z Networks has asked to federal government to grant it a chunk of the electromagnetic spectrum so it can use it for a nationwide wireless network modeled after commercial network television. In pre-cable times, television transmitters around the country pumped out signals that were received by the antennas we all had mounted on our roofs. Television viewing was free to the viewer, paid for by advertisers whose commercials appeared during breaks in the programming. This proposed wireless network, which is featured in a story in today’s New York Times, would work the same way. You would get free wireless internet access in return for watching some online commercials during your session. Based on the cable industry’s reaction to the Philadelphia experiment (cable lobbyists flooded the Pennsylvania legislature with campaign contributions and the legislature passed a law prohibiting any other municipally owned wireless networks), this proposal stands little chance of seeing the light of day in Washington, but we can always hope.

This morning’s Boston Globe depicts a disturbing picture of the Massachusetts housing market. The findings the Globe sites are certainly not startling for most residents of Massachusetts. Housing prices here are the third highest in the country. It is only more expensive to buy property in California and Hawaii than Massachusetts. The median price of a home increased 78% over the past six years. You would be hard pressed to find many people in Massachusetts whose salary went up 78% since 2000. Our median home price is now $325,000. These high prices are having a number of adverse effects on the Massachusetts economy. Most can be summed out with the phrase “out migration”…When thriving companies are ready to expand, they look out state, taking new jobs with them…High prices are also forcing young, talented people out to search for affordable housing. A recent Globe survey of executives revealed that high housing prices were the main obstacle to local growth. In 1978 I bought my first home in Wilmington, MA. It was an eight room split level with 2 baths. I paid $64,000. I had the “cold sweats” every night for a month after I put that house under agreement (Can I afford it? Can I feed the kids?)…I can’t even image what young people are going through today.

Back on May 10th, the Boston Globe ran a front page story on the increase in the number of foreclosures in Massachusetts during the first quarter of this year. Prompted by that article (which I blogged about that day), I did some analysis of foreclosure statistics at this registry, comparing the number of Orders of Notice recorded so far this year with the number recorded during the same period in 2005. The results of my investigation caused me to write a letter to the editor of the Globe. It was published last Sunday, May 14, 2006 in the Business Section on page E3. The numbers I cite need no further comment:

Your recent article on the 30% increase in foreclosures during the first three months of 2006 (“More are struggling to pay the mortgage”, May 10, 2006, Page A1) prompted me to scrutinize the most recent recording statistics at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds in Lowell. I was shocked to discover just how rapidly the pace of foreclosure activity has accelerated in the past two months. While the number of foreclosures commenced in January and February 2006 was 15% less than in 2005, the number of foreclosures started in March 2006 was 100% higher than in March 2005, April 2006 was 76% higher than in April 2005 and, amazingly, the number recorded in the first ten days of May was 356% higher than the same time last year (41 versus 9). Because of the relatively benign level of activity in January and February and the soaring rate since March 1, the situation may be far worse than was portrayed.

Richard P. Howe Jr.
Register of Deeds
Middlesex North District

Yesterday we added a new function to the main page of our website. In a blue box slightly below the “search land records” section is a link that will allow you to retrieve recorded document images found in Books 1 through 1128. These images were recently scanned from the archival microfilm of those books which date from 1855 up to 1950. Unfortunately, the first pass through this microfilm yielded some bad images that we still have to weed out and replace with better ones. Since we’re talking about tens of thousands of images, we could certainly use your help in finding them. As you come upon a bad image, please send me a quick email with its book and page number. All documents from Book 1129 to the present continue to be available in the “search land records” section. Besides these new document images, we’re busy encoding internet ready images of all Grantor Indexes from 1855 to 1976. Our goal is to have these available in a usable form on our website no later than June 1, 2006. In the intervening weeks, so check back here for updates on that project.

As the rain stops reflection is the order of the day…If you live in the Merrimack Valley you are more than aware of the havoc and destruction “our river”, the Merrimack brought to thousands. Below I have listed some interesting facts about the river…If you would like to add to these click on the comment section of this blog entry.

The name Merrimack came from the Native American word, Merruasquamack meaning “swift water place”.

Renowned thinker/writer Henry David Thoreau fixed the Merrimack in the annals of literary history with his classic “A Week on the Concord and Merrimack River” written in 1849.

The Merrimack River begins at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

The Merrimack River is 115 miles long.

Three Naval ships were named after the river…
The first Merrimack was commissioned in 1798 and stripped of her guns in 1801 then sold. The name was changed to the Monticello . Later it sunk off the coast of Cape Cod…
The second Merrimack and most famous was a Union warship built in the Boston Navy Yard. In 1861 it was harbored in Norfolk, Virginia when Virginia seceded from the Union. To avoid Confederate capture the ship’s own crew burnt it. In 1862 the Confederates used the Merrimack’s hull to construct an Ironclad battleship they named the Virginia. This is the same CSS Virginia (Merrimack) that engaged the Union’s Ironclad USS Monitor in Hampton Roads in one of the most famous naval battles in history. Ironically, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy at the time was Gustavus Fox who was from Lowell, MA.
The third Merrimack was an oil tanker purchased by the Navy in 1941. She served in both the Atlantic and Pacific in World War II.

The river is about 1,400 ft across at its widest point.

The Merrimack empties 5,010 of watershed into the Atlantic Ocean in Newburyport, MA.

The original Euro-American spelling of the river’s name was Merrimac.

The river provides drinking water for approximately 300,000 people.

The Great Gate located in Lowell was intended to seal the city’s canals from the river. It was designed by James Francis. During its construction many people dubbed the gate Francis’ Folly expressing the feeling the Gate was unnecessary.

In March of 1936 the river swelled to 68.4 ft, approximately 18 ft above flood level.

In May of 2006 the river rose 8 ft about flood level spreading havoc throughout the Merrimack Valley.

As I write (10 a.m. on May 16, 2006), moderate rain is falling for the sixth consecutive day. The registry of deeds, built upon a section of Lowell formerly known as “Chapel Hill” is far from the flooded areas of the city and our operations and access to the building have not been effected by the weather. The sections of Lowell that border the Merrimack River are still underwater according to all reports. Yesterday, word spread that the water treatment plant would be forced to shut down (that would certainly close us and the rest of the city down) but by mid-afternoon, the city’s website – which has been updated hourly with important public safety information – categorized that story as a rumor and announced that there were no plans to shut down the treatment plant. School in Lowell was cancelled for the second straight day and it probably won’t resume until the main routes along the river (the Pawtucket Blvd to the north and Pawtucket/Middlesex Streets and all the intersecting ways) have been cleared of water to permit students to be transported to their schools. Anyone who needs information from the registry (such as a certified copy of a deed) to facilitate filing an insurance claim should call our Customer Service Department at 978/322-9000 for assistance. Check back for additional updates later today.

We are currently involved in a huge effort to re-organize and catalog both our in-house and archived microfilm. During this project we discovered the 1941-1950 Grantee Index was microfilmed in single years, but not in its consolidated form. “In this day and age” (hey, I like the expression) a non-consolidated index (if there is such a phase) is irritating to users. It’s true… this film would only be used in an emergency…but there is still merit in fixing the problem…How is this done? (Good question)… We discovered the easiest and most cost effective way was to disassemble the books and scan them using a flatbed scanner. After scanning is complete we’ll print the individual book pages then film them… About five years ago we purchased a Minolta DAR 2800 camera that gives us the capability to film printed pages in-house. If you need one of these books while the project is in progress ask Customer Service. They we direct you to the correct location… And… by the way…we do intend to rebind these grantee books and put them back on the shelf.

Yesterday’s Globe story reported a 30% increase in foreclosures, but that was just for the first three months of this year. At this registry, the number of foreclosures commenced in January and February actually went down (by 15%) when compared to those months in 2005. But that trend disappeared during the month of March 2006 which saw a 100% increase in the number of foreclosures when compared to 2005. April say a 75% increase compared to last year. This means that the increase in foreclosures is probably much greater than 30%, especially with all the activity of the past two weeks when more than 40 new foreclosures were started.

A front page story in today’s Globe reported that foreclosure rates increased 30% in the first three months of 2006. This caused me to scrutize the recordings here at Middlesex North. We keep track of the number of Orders of Notice recorded (that’s the first step in the foreclosure process and typically, only about one-third of Orders of Notice result in actual foreclosures). We also track the number of Foreclosure Deeds recorded (these indicate the foreclosure actually took place and the property was sold at foreclosure). Just eighteen weeks into 2006, we’ve already recorded 196 Orders of Notice and 40 Foreclosure Deeds. We’ve recorded 41 Orders of Notice since May 1 - that’s just eight business days ago. If these numbers continue in the same proportion through the rest of 2006, we’re on track to record 560 Orders of Notice and 116 Foreclosure Deeds. We’ve been warning of this for more than a year, but from the activity of just this month, it looks like the bottom is falling out of the housing market.

The Canadians call their $1 coin the Loonie (presumably since it has the image of a loon on one side). In preparation for a trip to Montreal with the Lowell High School Band last weekend, I bought some Canadian money and was shocked to see the exchange rate: $1 US only bought about $1.05 Canadian. Just a few years ago, the exchange rate was more like $1 US to $1.25 Canadian. What happened? Economics, like math, is not one of my strengths, but several newspaper articles have addressed this. The unfavorable (to us) exchange rate is partly due to the booming economy north of the border which is, in many respects, attributable to the significant amount of oil extracted from the ground up there. This is a good time to be an oil producer. But there’s more going on. It seems that foreign governments, banks, and investors are beginning to lose confidence in the US dollar, due partly to the huge deficits that now exist. This poses trouble for the real estate market since if foreign dollars start going elsewhere, US interest rates will have to rise to continue attracting the funds necessary to finance all the debt – public and private – that exists in our country today. And rising interest rates will do nothing to slow the slide in real estate sales that is evident every day here at the registry of deeds. As for the LHS band, they won the award for the best overall concert band participating in the Festival of Music at Montreal’s Concordia University.

In 1965 John Lennon and Paul McCarthy wrote and sang, “I’m a Loser”…what a prophetic refrain. Hot off the presses, The Beatles lost their legal battle against Steve Jobs and Apple Computer. In the suit, The Beatles claimed it had exclusive rights to the Apple Logo for music distribution. This agreement was made in 1981 as a settlement between the two parties. In 1991 The Beatles again moved on Apple Computer when Apple introduced sound to its computers. The present lawsuit revolves around iTunes, Apples online music store. The Beatles claim Apple breached the agreement by selling music through iTunes. Apple computer defends itself saying iTunes is just a file transfer program…The judge apparently was convinced by the computer gaints argument. I found the following information on the web; supposedly, it hasn’t been made public except through court documents…I quote…”In 1991, Apple Corps (the Beatles) sued Apple Computer alleging that by adding sound to computers, the computer company was in violation of the 1981 agreement. This time Apple Computer paid $26.5 million. The computer giant agreed that although it may be involved in digital music, it would not package, sell or distribute any physical music materials, such as CD’s”. Obviously, the judge in the present case ruled that a computer does not “package, sell or distribute any physical music materials”… rather it simply transfers computer files…This I am sure is open for debate…The Beatles plan to appeal the decision…I can see why.

I attended a meeting about Dam Registration Certificates at the Department of Conservation and Recreation today. MGL Chapter 253, sections 44-50 and 302 CMR 10.05 require the owner of land that has a dam upon it to register with this state agency, to obtain a Certificate of registration and to record that certificate at the Registry of Deeds for the district in which the land (and the dam) is located. This requirement has been around for a while and the desire for a standardized procedure at the various registries prompted our meeting. It will undoubtedly become an agenda item at an upcoming meeting of the registers of deeds association. In the meantime, if you’re not aware of this requirement, you should check it out. It appears that a “dam owner” is obliged to notify the Commonwealth 30 days prior to the transfer of ownership so the Commonwealth can issue a new Certificate of Ownership, presumably in the name of the person about to buy the property. Such a new certificate, it seems, would contain a list of “any outstanding obligation” which I take to mean any money owed by a prior owner for penalties or in kind work by the Commonwealth. While this is undoubtedly an important public safety issue, it certainly seems like one more thing to keep title examiners awake at night.

This Saturday, May 6, from 9 a.m. till noon, the Registry of Deeds will be open to the public as part of the “Doors Open Lowell” weekend. This event gives the public the opportunity to see the inside of 30 historic Lowell buildings, many of which or not usually open to the public. Here at the registry, we set up the record hall as a type of exhibit room with posters and artifacts showing the history of the registry and the courthouse. There will also be an opportunity for guided tours of other parts of the building that will highlight some of the unique architectural features and the famous “Daniel Webster Courtroom” the site of some of this regions most famous (and infamous) trials. As an added bonus, all visitors will be eligible to win a CD containing the entire grantor index from 1629-1855. Hope you can make it.

On Monday The Boston Herald reported sales information for Massachusetts’counties. The figures, which compare the first quarter of 2006 to the first quarter of 2005, were taken from research done by The Warren Group. Suffolk (Boston, Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop) was the only county reporting an increase in sales.

Here is a list of the sales performance of the larger counties in the Massachusestts:
Essex County 19.2% decrease
Plymouth County 13.4% decrease
Worcester County 11.5% decrease
Middlesex County 10.6% decrease
Norfolk County 6.0% decrease

And as mentioned above… Suffolk County a 9.5% increase.